What to include in a save the date: save the date wording examples
Getting married is a special time that you naturally want to share with all of your favorite people. After all, that’s what a wedding is for, right? It’s a day to declare your love and commitment publicly, before your friends and family.
It’s one of the few times in your life it’s possible to get everyone together at the same time, which is why it’s imperative to send out a save the date as early as possible. Many ask, are save the dates necessary? Yes! And if you wait too long, your guests won’t have enough time to make arrangements to be there.
The more notice you give your guests, the more likely they will be able to adjust their schedules to attend your big day. So, don’t wait. Create and send your save the dates at least four to six months before the wedding, preferably with an even longer lead time, if possible. To be considerate of your guests, you should know what to include in these save the dates. Read on as we explain how to craft save the date wording.
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What to include in a save the date card?
A welcome
Sometimes this wording is already included in the design you choose, but if it isn’t, you’ll want to add your own. The actual save the date wording will depend on whether your wedding is formal and traditional, or casual and non-traditional.
Your names
One of the most important pieces of information you want to include in your save the date is your names. It’s a key component—along with your unique and creative save the date photos—and should be featured prominently in the layout and design. You can do that by using a larger, distinctive font or changing the color to be something different from the rest of the words and layout.
Your wedding date
Don’t forget to include the date of your wedding. After all, that’s the reason for sending a save the date card in the first place! That means that by necessity you should already have chosen your general location, if not your wedding venue, and created your guest list. You want to make sure you’re only sending save the dates to people you’re inviting to the ceremony.
If you are having a destination wedding or a weekend celebration, include all the dates from start to finish, and make it clear what day you’ll be holding the actual ceremony, even if you have not yet settled on a time.
Your ceremony location
This information can be general for now. Just include the country, state, and city, especially if you have any friends or family traveling from overseas. They will need that information to make appropriate travel arrangements to attend. If you want to include the hotel address, you can, but that information will be relayed on your invitation and wedding website too, so it may be redundant.
Your wedding website
This is assuming you have one! Many couples like to create a wedding website to keep people updated on all the important details related to the wedding, like maps, hotel info, videos, and photos of the engagement, and as a resource to update everyone if changes occur. With our online save the dates, you can easily link your wedding website from any design you choose.
A note to guests
Make sure you include a note to your guests that they will be receiving a formal invite in the future—it’s proper save the date etiquette. This doesn’t have to be a long note, just a single line of text can suffice. Not all save the date cards have room for excessive wording, so when in doubt, keep it short and sweet.
Save the date information to skip
Your hotel info
Unless you’ve booked a block of rooms for people who like to reserve accommodations early, this isn’t necessary to include on your save the date. You will be providing all of this info on the wedding website anyway, and most guests won’t know right away if they will be able to make it. The country, state, and city where you’re hosting the wedding will be more than sufficient.
Your venue
This is another detail that can be provided on the formal invitation. In many cases, you might not have booked a venue yet. If you have booked your venue and you want to include it, you can, but it isn’t considered necessary for a save the date.
Timelines or dress codes
You are very early in the wedding planning process, so putting exact times on the save the date, like reception times and ceremony times is unnecessary at this point. The goal of a save the date is to give people a heads up on the day you plan to get married, so they can make arrangements to attend. It’s best to put the exact times on the formal invitation, so you have more time to solidify the details.
You also don’t need to include information on attire. Some save the dates communicate your wedding theme in the design, which can give hints as to appropriate attire anyway. However, you can include your dress code when you send out the actual invitations and have made firm decisions.
Save the date wording examples
Save the date language will be different depending on the type of wedding you plan on having. If you are throwing a formal, traditional wedding, consider wording ideas that reflect that. In the same vein, if you’re having a destination wedding, or something a little more casual, then your tone should reflect that.
Unless you’re going the traditional route, have fun playing with your save the date card wording and try to use words that hint at what the coming wedding will be like. You can also tweak and play with fonts to help convey the tone and theme of your wedding. To get a better idea of save the date wording, here are a variety of examples from formal to playful.
Formal wedding save the date example
Please save the date
to celebrate the wedding of
Suzanne Lorn
and
William Reese
November 11, 2020
Orlando, Florida
Formal invitation to follow
Destination wedding save the date example
Love is in the air…
or it will be when we travel to Tahiti for our
Destination Wedding
11.11.2020
Save the Date
Love, Suzanne and William
Invite to follow soon!
Clever and cute save the date example
We’re tying the knot!
Save the Date
11.11.2020
Suzanne and William
Orlando, Florida
Invite will follow soon
Funny save the date example
Food, drinks, music. Need we say more?
Save the Date
Wedding of
Suzanne and William
11.11.20
Orlando, Florida
Invite to follow soon
Simple save the date example
A date to remember
Suzanne Lorn and William Reese
are getting married
November 11, 2020
Orlando, Florida
Save the Date
Invitation to follow
Hopefully, these examples can help you with deciding on your save the date wording. Ideas can range from fun and quirky to elegant and formal. There is no wrong way to announce your big day. Ready to get started? Browse our wide selection of save the dates for any style of wedding.
“Leaves of Gold” and “Sonora” by Paperless Post
